If the names of the favorites in the girls' portion of the annual District 11 basketball tournament sound familiar, it is with good reason.

All four of last year's champions (Freedom, Central Catholic, Pine Grove and Notre Dame) are back in the field this year - with a slight change. The 1987 PIAA Class 3A state champion Central Catholic girls have switched to 4A.

Last year, when CCHS was on a roll, the 4A teams in the East Penn Conference got a break at tournament time. But the school's enrollment for girls this year totaled 19 above the 3A cutoff, reclassifying CCHS to 4A.

As a result, the 4A event looks like a repeat of last week's EPC tourney. The Vikettes beat Whitehall for the EPC crown, and the two could square off again in the district title game March 11 at Stabler Arena.

Pine Grove and Notre Dame figure to be in the thick of things again in their divisions, while North Schuylkill may be the top contenderfor the 3A crown.

"The girls are feeling really good about themselves," said Central coach Mike Kopp, whose Vikettes edged Whitehall 49-46 in overtime after losing to the Zephyrs 48-42 earlier in February.

"They're very satisified with the victory. Whitehall is an excellent, well-coached team. I'm proud of the fact that we were able to repeat as East Penn champion. Now I won't find out until our first game if they're satisfied enough by just winning the conference."

Last year, Central had to beat North Schuylkill in the 3A title game. Kopp said he thinks North Schuylkill is "as good as any team in our area, no matter what the classification. This year, we have to face the same teams we've already played. Everybody knows what you're going to do. You can't create big leads because you can't surprise anybody. Playing Allen again is difficult, because it's such a natural rivalry."

Central beat Allen 57-47 and 71-56 this year.

"We're not thinking about states at all at this point," Kopp said. "We won't go anywhere if we don't win Friday."

* The 3A girls' tournament started yesterday with three preliminary games. Action resumes Saturday with top seed North Schuylkill playing Blue Mountain at 8 p.m. at Shenandoah. Nazareth (No. 4 seed, 16-7) will take on Bethlehem Catholic (No. 5, 11-12) at 6:30 p.m. at Northern Lehigh; East Stroudsburg (No. 2, 18-4) will face Palisades at 8p.m at Nazareth; and Southern Lehigh (No. 3, 23-2) will play Tamaqua at 8 p.m. at Whitehall.

Although it is Rose Mohl's first year as head coach at East Stroudsburg High School, the Cavaliers have to be considered a strong contender for the 3A title because they seem to be peaking at the right time. The team is coming off a tough 60-45 victory over perennial power Notre Dame in the Centennial League championship game. That win was the 10th straight for the Cavaliers.

"I'm really pleased with the way they're playing right now, and we're where I want to be at the right time," said Mohl, who said the tourney win has given her team added confidence.

"The layoff will do us good after a tough game like that."

The Perryman sisters, Chris and Felicia, lead a lineup filled with scoring punch and experience. Chris, a junior guard, is averaging 13.9 points per game and clinched her team's league championship game by scoring 14 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter. Felicia leads the team in scoring (15.8 ppg) and is sure to rebound off a dismal 3-for-20 field goal shooting performance last week.

If a team manages to keep those two quiet, it must contend with Denise Cole (10.8 ppg), Lisa Allen (5 ppg), Kathy Jordan (7.5 ppg) and Barb Featherman coming off the bench.

"We're going to be up for every game and ready no matter what," said Mohl. "The key will be to play good defense, to get our running game going.

"North Schuylkill and Southern Lehigh would have to be the class of the tourney. We'd like to meet Southern Lehigh again because we lost to them earlier (50-45) and are capable of playing a much better game," said Mohl.

* The 2A field for girls is the smallest in the entire District 11 tournament - just five teams, but that won't make the task any easier.Just ask Palmerton coach Bill Piper, who must lead his Blue Bombers (20-6) against defending champ Pine Grove in its first start - next Tuesday, site and time to be announced.